Скачать или смотреть Agon _portrait of playful competition

2nd episode of Homo Ludens project


Project Simona Bertozzi, Marcello Briguglio

Choreography and Direction Simona Bertozzi

Dance Chay Burrows, Abi Mortimer, Carrie Whitaker (LILA DANCE)

Music Roberto Passuti

Costums Holly Murray Production

Lighting Project Elliot Charmicael, S. Bertozzi

Production 2010

The work was funded by Arts Council England and supported by The Point, Eastleigh UK



AGON is the greek word chosen by Roger Caillois to associate all the games connected to a competitive attitude.


From nature we are all inclined to competition but the cultural, social and economical evolution has radically changed the natural mechanism and tendency of primordial competition, which was, for example, the necessity for reproduction, and for food, turning it into a more complex institution. The greatest historical change is that most of the contemporary conflicts, in their different fields, have very different levels of force and organisation.

Competition is more and more a combination of nature and cultural effect.

The idea to shift AGON into a game atmosphere and to work it out through the creation of strong physical but not descriptive actions, appeared to me as an inspiring possibility to explore the theme of "to fight for" without collapsing in pure literalism and thus pushing forward the figurative aspect of the choreography.

The structure of the piece is divided in three different parts, with a brief prologue, each one alluding to an example of competition in human life and history:

power (martial agon); money (animal point of view); religious. Each one finding its own form within the choreography.

The "martial" agon, the "animal" agon and the "religious" agon, are thus represented by an inner agreement, which starts from a specific rule inside the choreography and implies the basic aspect of playing games.

The three players must embody their own action and choral movements, with the kind of commitment that reaches beyond the literal and connects with the timelessness of humanity in all its histories.

The playground defines the borders of a parallel reality and "playing Agon" stays alive as long as it happens in that specific playground and specific time, where the game rules are those of the choreography.

There is no particular winner.


The game can always restart...